West Virginia’s fast start upsets Va. Tech
Jarret Doege threw two touchdown passes, Leddie Brown rushed for 106 yards and a score and
West Virginia survived No. 15 Virginia Tech’s furious rally from a 20-point deficit to beat the Hokies
27-21 on Saturday at Morgantown, West Virginia.
The Mountaineers (2-1) built a 27-7-point lead midway through the third quarter but saw that mostly evaporate behind Virginia Tech’s Braxton Burmeister before West Virginia saved the outcome on a goal-line stand.
“Winning is hard and we talked about it before the game,” coach Neal Brown said. “I thought this was going to be a defining moment for us, for this team and where we’re at. I’m worn out. I feel like
I’ve played.”
Burmeister threw for two scores, including a 29-yard TD toss to Jalen Holston with 3:10 left. Virginia Tech got the ball back with 2:11 remaining on Jermaine Waller’s interception of Doege at the West Virginia 17, but Burmeister threw incomplete on fourth-and-goal from the 3 and the Mountaineers ran out the clock.
It was one of three Virginia Tech drives that stalled inside the West Virginia 10, with the Hokies coming away with no points.
Burmeister finished 18 of 30 for 207 yards.
Doege finished 15 of 26 for 193 yards and West Virginia outgained the Hokies 318-308.
A No. 5 Iowa 30, Kent State 7: Tyler Goodson ran for a career-high 153 yards and three touchdowns and the host Hawkeyes stayed unbeaten by beating Kent State.
A No. 7 Texas A&M 34, New Mexico 0: Zach Calzada threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start. The victory extends A&M’s winning streak to 11 games and gives the Aggies a 3-0 start for the first time since opening the 2016 season with six consecutive wins. New Mexico falls to 2-1.
A No. 8 Cincinnati 38, Indiana 24: Desmond Ridder threw the go-ahead touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, then scored on a 7-yard TD run. Jerome Ford ran for two scores and Tre Tucker scored on a 99-yard kickoff return as the Bearcats (3-0) won their first road game of the season.
A No. 9 Ohio State 41, Tulsa 20: TreVeyon Henderson broke Archie Griffin’s 49-year-old freshman rushing record, romping for 277 yards and three touchdowns as the host Buckeyes pulled away late to beat the Golden Hurricane. Henderson ran for scores of 5, 48 and 52 yards, which managed to paper over some of the same weaknesses Ohio State showed in the 32-25 upset by Oregon last week.
A No. 12 Notre Dame 27, Purdue 13: Kyren Williams scored two long touchdowns, the second a 51yard run with 6:05 remaining, as the host Fighting Irish held off the Boilermakers for their 26th straight victory at home. The victory was the 105th in Brian Kelly’s 12-year career at Notre Dame, tying him with Knute Rockne as the winningest coach in school history.
A No. 16 Coastal Carolina 28, Buffalo 25: Grayson McCall threw for three touchdowns, Shermari Jones ran for 149 yards and another score as the visiting Chanticleers (3-0) beat the Bulls (1-2).
A No. 20 Arkansas 45, Georgia Southern 10: KJ Jefferson threw for a career-high 366 yards and tied a career high with three touchdowns to lead the host Razorbacks past Georgia Southern.
A No. 25 Michigan 63, Northern Illinois 10: Blake Corum rushed for 123 yards and three touchdowns as the host Wolverines (3-0) scored touchdowns on their first nine drives, eight of them on the ground against the overmatched Huskies (1-2).
LATE FRIDAY: UCF LOSES, GABRIEL HURT
A Louisville 42, UCF 35: Jaylin Alderman returned an interception off a tipped pass for a 66-yard touchdown with 13 seconds remaining, giving the host Cardinals a thrilling victory over the Knights on Friday night.
UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel has a broken left collarbone, a person with knowledge of the situation had told the Orlando Sentinel on Saturday, and soon after he confirmed the diagnosis on social media..
The Knights and their high-speed offense appeared primed to win the back-and-forth battle after intercepting Louisville’s Malik Cunningham off a deflection on the previous play for possession at the Cardinals 41 with under a minute to play. But Alderman, a freshman linebacker, was there to snatch a tip of Dillon Gabriel’s pass on the next snap before finding room down the right sideline for the TD to spark a delirious celebration for Louisville.
UCF (2-1) attempted several laterals on the game’s final play before being penalized for an illegal forward pass that closed the victory for Louisville (2-1).